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911 Stabbing/Shooting
Location: Wolcott, Connecticut Date: July 3, 1992 Story On a long summer evening, the quiet town of Wolcott, Connecticut, usually seems even more peaceful. But shortly after 8pm on July 3, 1992, all of that changed for Cathy Hubeny as she found herself facing a very difficult decision, not realizing that this would be a matter of life or death. Cathy was home with her two sons, each of whom had a friend sleeping over, and had just put on a movie for them to watch, which made them all very happy. Suddenly, as she was vacuuming the floor, she heard pounding on her window and saw a hysterical young woman screaming, "Help me!" The woman, 25-year-old Joan Santucci, told Cathy to call the police, which she did. Cathy's call was taken by Wolcott Police dispatcher Janine Valleta, whom she told that Joan was outside her house shrieking that somebody was about to attack her, but she knew nothing more than that. Valleta radioed to the lieutenant and two officers who were closest to the scene, and tried to figure out more details about why Joan was so upset and crying. Cathy was scared to let Joan inside since she had four little boys to worry about, so she stayed outside with her while on the phone. Joan's stalker and ex-boyfriend, 30-year-old Scott DiNapoli, who had been housesitting for a neighboring family and whom she had known for two years, approached the house, but Joan screamed at him to go away. Earlier that day, he had abducted her from a nearby mall and brought her to the house he was staying at, where he assaulted her. Cathy had met him once before at a party in that house, and he seemed to be a nice man. She decided that Joan must have been his girlfriend, and they must have had a fight, but this was too confusing for her. Valleta decided that this was a domestic dispute, and it bothered her to know four young boys were watching. Scott asked Cathy if she was on the phone with the police, and she said Joan told her to call them, so she had to. He demanded that she hang up and told Joan to come back with him. Just then, he pulled out a knife and began stabbing Joan in the face and neck. Cathy, shocked and appalled, begged him to stop, but he didn't and ran away. Cathy, sobbing, ran outside to see Joan lying on the walkway and clutching her face. One side of her cheek was cut wide open and she was bleeding profusely all over from her neck. She told Cathy that she knew he would hurt her. Lieutenant Don Therkildsen was the first to arrive on the scene as Joan, shaking all over, pleaded, "Please don't let me die," while Janine informed Cathy that an ambulance was on the way. Upon seeing how profusely Joan was bleeding from the neck, Therkildsen grabbed his first aid kit. Valleta heard Cathy talking to Therkildsen, and she felt relieved that the intense call was likely over, so she could now get a cup of coffee. Upon seeing Scott, who had just cut his wrists with the knife, Therkildsen drew his gun and told him to drop it repeatedly. He backed up, and Therkildsen hoped that he would eventually realize what he was doing and comply with the instructions. Cathy saw him walking backwards down the driveway, never looking at either her or Joan. His eyes were wildly fixed on Therkildsen, who was telling him to not make him shoot him. Scott, who'd had a previous conviction in March of that year, begged for his life, but he wouldn't follow any of Therkildsen's commands, so he shot him. Cathy called 911 back and spoke to Janine again, saying that Scott had just been shot. She didn't want Cathy to see her upset, but she was because the situation had not been resolved peacefully. As two other officers arrived, Thirkeldsen, in a state of fear, could tell that Scott was dead, and he was angry that he made him kill him when he completely refused to. Valleta felt bad for him because she never liked seeing any of the officers go through anything like that. Cathy felt alone, having so many strangers in her front yard. The Wolcott Volunteer Ambulance Service arrived shortly thereafter, including EMT Jimmy Roy. They were unaware that there had also been a shooting until they noticed Scott lying in the driveway, obviously dead. One of the officers yelled for Roy to come help him. Joan was bleeding very badly, and the towel that had been applied to her neck was soaked with blood. She needed to be rushed to the hospital immediately. Joan was still very nervous and pleading not to die, so on the way to the hospital, Roy tried to comfort her. At first he expected the call to be a routine one, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable ones he had ever been faced with. After arriving at St. Mary's Hospital, Joan was examined by surgeon Victor Gotay. She had ten different wounds, four of which were in her neck, so to Dr. Gotay, it seemed like a miracle that she was still alive, because one of the wounds in her neck could have cut the main vessel to her head and killed her instantly. After being notified of the attack, Joan's mother, Marie, came to the hospital to see her, not believing what had happened. Though she had a feeling something was coming, knowing about some of Scott's abusive behavior, she was in shock at the brutality of the attack. Joan said that in any relationship, the two partners have both good and bad times, but as time went on, she and Scott had more bad times than good. Joan had kept a lot of the abuse a secret from Marie, who didn't ask her about it knowing she wouldn't want to talk about it. Peggy Panagrossi, director of the local women's shelter, found the pattern of Joan's story all too common, saying that too many women downplay the abuse and accepted their abusers' apologies, because they want to believe it won't happen again. But she said that abused women should speak up because the abuser usually won't change his ways. Although Scott and Joan had arguments and fights in which he would scream and yell at her, she never believed deep down that he would get to the point where he would attack her so brutally. Cathy's emotional wounds were slow to heal as well. After the incident, she wouldn't go far from home anymore. About two months later, Cathy called Joan to see how she was doing, and they talked for hours, sharing some tears. Joan says that Cathy didn't deserve to be involved in the incident, which scarred her as well, and that she shouldn't have felt guilty at all since she had to protect four children and herself, but she saved Joan by calling 911, and for that, Joan is eternally grateful. After that, they bonded and became friends, Joan concluding that they would be so for the rest of their lives. Category:1992 Category:Connecticut Category:Stabbings Category:Shootings Category:Crimes